Clark: The twisted reality of our healthcare system

By Richard Clark / Columnist

Published: Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 08:14 PM.

We have seen the rise of healthcare providers throughout the last 30 years. Many of us remember a time when a decent premium provided us with the opportunity to go to any doctor or hospital in which we needed to go. Nowadays, you have co-pays for this, networks for that and hidden costs passed on to the patient.

Let’s stop pointing the finger at the wrong place. Putting profits ahead of patients is the problem, plain and simple. Aiding the sick should be a calling, like being a police officer or a teacher. Instead, it’s turned out to be more like being a used car salesman or stockbroker.

Making money for your board and investors is not the problem. The problem is when we begin to deny Americans quality healthcare at a reasonable cost to make sure the board and investors get that profit.

Has greed finally won? Has money finally trumped human lives? I hope not — but the twisted nature of our current system seriously makes me question this idea.

Richard Clark is the consolidated desk chief for Halifax ENC; his column appears in this space every Sunday. You can reach him at 910-219-8452 or at Richard.Clark@jdnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at kpaws22.

Can they honestly believe we are that stupid? Or paying little to no attention?

Has anyone else noticed all of the propaganda healthcare providers have pushed out onto the airwaves lately? Currently, healthcare providers are spending millions to tell us why healthcare costs are rising.

I find it mildly amusing when the ads speak of “the rising costs of healthcare,” and they blame us (bad habits, lousy health), hospitals (unnecessary waste) and, of course, the go-to political move, Obamacare. However, nowhere in the ads do you hear that the providers are the cause of rising costs.

Was it not just a few years ago healthcare providers were telling us the main reason for rising costs were the uninsured and/or underinsured? Now, according to healthcare providers, the reasons are “we are covering too many people?”

What gives?

From where I am sitting, this is the customary finger-pointing normally reserved for lobbyists and political action committees. This type of double talk is the reason many do not trust the healthcare system any longer.

The bottom line is healthcare providers have posted enormous profits of late despite the “looming government takeover of healthcare” that was used to scare everyone to death. UnitedHealth Group, the top revenue generating healthcare provider, posted revenues of more than $100 billion while turning a handsome profit of $5 billion or so.

They were not alone in a nice turnaround of a buck. Humana, Aetna, Coventry Healthcare and Centene all generated large sums of profits in the billions.

To add fuel to the fire, each of those healthcare providers accomplished the single most important task in business these days: They increased their earnings per share and return for their investors. Let’s be realistic — above anything else, including good healthcare, this was, is and will always be the most important factor under our current healthcare situation.

The point is while they make billions (and in no way am I faulting them for making money), they also are spending millions to convince us they must raise prices even further to compete in the marketplace. This is absurd.

Healthcare in this country used to be about something other than a drive for the almighty dollar. There was a time when hospitals felt we had a moral obligation to treat all Americans regardless of their socioeconomic class … or maybe I’m just being nostalgic.

Rising costs and insurance companies’ reluctance to pay these costs have made access to quality healthcare for the poor, seniors or people with serious health problems next to impossible. The rise of commercial healthcare has only made getting good healthcare that much more difficult unless you have a substantial bank account or work for a good company. Study after study has shown that for-profit healthcare actually reduces the chances of getting decent healthcare for “unprofitable” patients.

The main purpose for healthcare is to look after the needs of patients when they are at their most vulnerable. Period.

However, when profits, stockholders and earnings reports are entered into the equation, the patient’s best interests will undoubtedly be pushed to the back of the line. Doctor’s decisions will not be based on patient health but instead will become subject to a manager’s whim — whose only goal is profit. Medicines, procedures and treatments with high profit returns will no doubt be pushed in place of what is best for the patient.

We have seen the rise of healthcare providers throughout the last 30 years. Many of us remember a time when a decent premium provided us with the opportunity to go to any doctor or hospital in which we needed to go. Nowadays, you have co-pays for this, networks for that and hidden costs passed on to the patient.

Let’s stop pointing the finger at the wrong place. Putting profits ahead of patients is the problem, plain and simple. Aiding the sick should be a calling, like being a police officer or a teacher. Instead, it’s turned out to be more like being a used car salesman or stockbroker.

Making money for your board and investors is not the problem. The problem is when we begin to deny Americans quality healthcare at a reasonable cost to make sure the board and investors get that profit.

Has greed finally won? Has money finally trumped human lives? I hope not — but the twisted nature of our current system seriously makes me question this idea.

Richard Clark is the consolidated desk chief for Halifax ENC; his column appears in this space every Sunday. You can reach him at 910-219-8452 or at Richard.Clark@jdnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at kpaws22.